Pampore (Jammu and Kashmir) [India]: The terrorists holed up into the Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) since Sunday, wanted to inflict maximum causalities so that they could draw attention to themselves, said Kashmir Range Inspector General of Police Syed Javaid Mujtaba Gillani.

“Their main motive was to cause a lot many causalities so that they could be able to draw attention and so they chose this building,” Gillani told reporters after the operation ended.

“After the encounter that took place in Baramulla, we had information that there might be people, who would seek into the city and carry out these types of attacks on the highway. So our people were alert and probably, it’s also because of the fact that people were alert on the highway that they couldn’t cause any damage on the highway and they had to take shelter in this building,” he added.

Gillani further said they are prepared for any eventuality and for that deployment has been done in terms of defensive posturing.

Earlier, two of the terrorists holed up in JKEDI, a government building, on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway. Official sources said, while one terrorist was killed yesterday, another was neutralised today during the operation to flush out them since Sunday.

Security forces resumed their operation this morning after being suspended late last night due to darkness.

The army has called its para commandos to neutralise the remaining terrorists.

The exact number of the terrorists trapped inside is not yet known.

The building, where terrorists are trapped, suffered extensive damage as security forces fired dozens of rockets, mortar shells and triggered Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) to eliminate the militants. Security forces also used tear-smoke and pepper shells to bring the militants out from the building. Army, paramilitary forces and state police were jointly participating in the operation. (ANI)